No one except those providing essential and emergency services will be allowed to come out from 8 pm to 6 am in some cities in Rajasthan amid a spike in COVID-19 cases, news agency ANI reported. The Rajasthan government has imposed night curfew in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Bikaner, Udaipur, Ajmer, Alwar and Bhilwara.
The fine for not wearing mask has been hiked from ₹ 200 to ₹ 500.
“State Council of Ministers met to discuss measures to prevent coronavirus infection, including imposition of night curfew in eight of the most-affected cities (Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Bikaner, Udaipur, Ajmer, Alwar and Bhilwara). Many important decisions were taken,” Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted on Saturday.
Rajasthan is the latest state to join a growing list of states like Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat that have enforced temporary night curfew in some of their cities on seeing a spike in coronavirus cases after the festival season.
Rajasthan reported 3,007 fresh cases of coronavirus on Saturday, the highest in a single-day, and 16 deaths, according to news agency PTI. The COVID-19 tally in the state is now 2,40,676 and the total fatalities is 2,146.
The opposition BJP in Rajasthan has asked the state government to focus on ensuring enough beds, ventilators and oxygen cylinders are available in hospitals for COVID-19 patients.
In Madhya Pradesh, night curfew is in force between 10 pm and 6 am in Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Vidisha and Ratlam. “People engaged in essential services and factory workers are exempted,” Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said.
The night curfew in some cities in Gujarat comes a day after a similar restriction was announced for Ahmedabad till November 23. Only shops selling milk and medicines will be allowed to remain open during the “complete curfew” in Ahmedabad, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had said.
India’s coronavirus tally crossed the 90.5 lakh-mark on Saturday with 46,232 new infections reported in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.
